Victoria aut Mors
by MorbidlyCurious
Summary: Ciel wants to restore honor to his family name. Sebastian just wants Ciel. SebaCiel, M/M, Underage, OOC, Rape, Abuse, Modern Highschool AU. Multi-chap. A few OCs. M for violence and language.
1. Part 1: Mortals

**Okay, so I'm really excited to finally post a story on Fanfiction. I've been reading on here for a couple of years, and now I have a story crawling around in my head, so...let it be written!**

**I've written before, but this is my first foray into fanfiction. I figured I might as well enter the realm of my OTP. At the moment, this is just rated T. It'll probably stay that way, lol, even though SebaCiel smut is pretty dang awesome. I'm just a bit unsure about writing it.**

**Additionally, if this gets good feedback, chapter 2 (Part 2: Delights) should be up in the next few days.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing...I'm just borrowing Yana Toboso's big-girl toys for my foray into her little black sandbox.**

* * *

><p>Part 1: Mortals<p>

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

Ciel sighed after reading the line aloud, knowing that Robin was the part he wanted to have in the play. He also knew that he probably wouldn't get it, seeing as how musical theater at his school – Victoria's Institute for the Arts – was run by the popular crowd.

And Ciel was not popular by any means.

He sighed again, leaning back on the luxurious couch and dropping the script on the cushion next to his thigh.

With his dumb eyepatch, his small stature, and his well-known sexuality, Ciel knew he pretty much had no hope of ever becoming popular at that school – which he found highly ironic, as most of the guys attending his school were likely just as straight as the yellow brick road.

Normally, that suited him just fine, but when it came to other matters, such as playing the part he just _knew _he was destined for in one of his favorite comedies, he hated the position he held in his high school.

_If only they knew…_

Now that Ciel's father was dead, he was being prepped to take over his father's old position as principal of Victoria's Institute. He was aiming to get his doctorate in education administration, teach for a while, and then work his way up to principal, all under the instruction of his father's elderly mentor, Tanaka.

However, when his father had been sixteen, he had been essentially king of the school; he'd had the trust of all the teachers and met no problems in his climb to the top position. Ciel envied the position his father had held at the school, even as a freshman. Vincent Phantomhive…his name was hallowed in the halls of Victoria's Institute. He had been class president, president of the Key Club and student government, lead in almost every play, a star athlete (football, soccer and track), a straight-A student, and valedictorian.

And although he had plenty of reason to be, he wasn't cocky or rude. He had actually been one of the nicest students in the school…

Or so Auntie Angelina claimed.

It wouldn't surprise Ciel if she had embellished a few details. His mother, Rachel, _had _told him all about Angelina's pitiful little crush on Vincent back when they were all kids.

Ciel scoffed at the mere thought of it.

Anyways, that wasn't the point. The point was that Ciel should have been able to rule the school as his father had, but circumstances didn't allow for it to just be given to him; instead, he would have to work for it.

As he came to that conclusion, his Auntie walked into the room, smiling far too widely, teetering in heels far too high, and wearing far too much red than was probably sane. "Hey, Ciel! What's up?" she asked kindly as she collected things in her purse.

Ciel picked at a non-existent piece of lint on his sweater as he answered. "Just going over lines for my audition this afternoon, Madame." He kept his eyes cast down, radiating disinterest.

"Ah, good luck with that. You know your father was Puck in that play, a Midsummer Night's Dream." Her eyes grew teary and wistful. "He was amazing, had the part down to a science-"

"That's lovely, Madame, but you should really get going before you're late for work," he interrupted, bored with the conversation.

Angelina frowned slightly, blinking away the tears. "Now, don't you know by now to call me Auntie, Ciel Phantomhive? Honestly, I'm not a stranger, you know," she pouted, squeezing him in a hug before flouncing out the door.

Ciel looked down at his watch, thinking that he should probably get going as well.

_5:45. Yes, I should definitely get going._

* * *

><p>Stomping through the small puddles left behind by last night's rain, Ciel grumbled, "I fucking wore my nice boots today, and for what? For mud all over the heels. Fan-fucking-tastic."<p>

The bus pulled up just as he reached his stop.

Ciel looked around the muddy street corner in mild surprise, noting that his self-proclaimed "best friend", Alois, was nowhere to be found. He then shrugged and began climbing the steps to get on the bus.

The moment he was eye level with the first row of seats, his name was shouted with zeal. "Ciel! Come sit with me!"

He sighed in annoyance but complied, sitting in the seat across the aisle from his _other _self-proclaimed best friend, Soma Kadar, and his – almost frighteningly – devoted boyfriend, Agni Munshi, who was previously orphaned and had been taken in by a foster family.

"How's it going, Ciel?" Soma asked eagerly, in an overly-friendly mood as usual.

"You should know, you were over for most of the weekend, Soma," Ciel replied somewhat shortly.

"Aw, come on Ciel – don't be like that! Tell me how your morning was."

Ciel frowned and reluctantly told him a severely abridged version of how he wasn't expecting to get the part in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the conversation with his Aunt that had followed his inner monologue.

Soma pouted and slammed his hands down on his knees. "How stupid! You're a great actor, and those drama geeks are all idiots if they don't choose you to be the fairy. Right, Agni?" Soma looked to his significant other for affirmation.

Agni, tattoos, piercings, dyed white hair and all, blushed at being called out and stuttered a response. "Y-yes…yes, of course!"

Ciel simply rolled his eyes and dug his phone and in-ear headphones out of his small black messenger bag. After a few taps, he placed his earbuds into his ears and began listening to Beethoven's 7th Symphony, Movement Two, tuning out the rest of the world.

Soma frowned, turning back to Agni. "Does he seem sadder than usual today?" Soma asked his boyfriend.

Agni glanced at Ciel before returning his grave gaze to Soma. "Well, it is only a few weeks before his birthday," he responded, in a low voice. "And you know how that makes him."

The younger boy's shining, golden eyes widened. "Of course!" he said, planting his right fist in his left hand in realization. "Well, you know what? Ciel should just get a boyfriend!"

"Eh?"

"Well, whenever I'm sad, you make me happy, Agni!" Soma clarified. "So wouldn't it make sense for him to be happy if he had someone to love as well?"

Agni smiled, feeling his heart beat just a bit faster in his chest. "I suppose you're right."

Soma laughed, leaning back into Agni's chest and closing his eyes for the remainder of the bus ride.

* * *

><p>Ciel was jolted out of his trance-like state a few minutes away from the school when his phone vibrated. He put in his passcode and dragged down the notifications bar with his ringed thumb, seeing a new text from Alois.<p>

_OMG sorry i wasnt at the bus stop 2day, Im still coming to school tho_

Ciel rolled his eyes at Alois's terrible typing skills, then replied: _Where were you?_

A few moments later, his response came through: _getting screwed HARD by this rly hot guy!_

Ciel chose not to answer.

It didn't matter anyways because the moment he stepped off of the bus and onto the curb, he noticed Alois emerging unsteadily from a bright red 2014 Tesla Model S with a dreamy, satisfied smile on his face. Soma suddenly popped out of nowhere from behind Ciel, whistling lowly. "That's a nice car. What's Alois doing in a nice car?"

"I have no idea," Ciel responded slowly as Alois made his way over.

"Did you get my text, Ciel? _That's _the hot guy," he gestured grandly to a dark-haired, very tall boy who was rummaging around in the trunk of the Tesla. "I dunno where he came from, but we need more guys like that around—"

Ciel cut him off. "Where did you meet him?"

"We actually bumped into each other at Wal-Mart. We both reached for the Cheeto Puffs at the same time…Clearly it's meant to be!" he said dramatically, faking a swoon.

Soma and Agni, who had appeared without Ciel's noticing as well, laughed raucously at this.

"Ha-ha." Ciel said sarcastically. "So you just happened to run into some really hot guy while buying Cheetos at Wal-Mart, and … what, he decided on the spot that he wanted to have his dirty way with you?"

"Yes, that's about right," a deep voice said, surprising Ciel.

The boy who had been by the car was now standing behind Alois, wrapping his long arms about the smaller boy's waist and leaning down to place a soft, not-so-chaste kiss on the side of Alois's neck.

His dark hair was neatly cut at the back, and midnight-colored bangs, parted harshly to the sides of his face, swung slightly, significantly longer on one side than the other. He had thin, rectangular glasses perched on his nose, which glinted in the watery sunlight as he shifted. His sharply cut jaw was only outdone by the even sharper tilt of his arched eyebrows, which lent to him a constantly brooding facial expression. Perceptive golden eyes took in Ciel's petite form with unreadable emotion.

"But then, could anyone blame me?" he murmured into the milky-white skin with a smirk. Alois giggled as Claude continued. "He's just so damn—"

Again, Ciel interrupted. "And who the hell are you?"

"Ah, I'm very sorry, Ciel. My name is Claude Faustus. My cousin and I are new in town. It's…nice to meet you," he introduced himself, detangling from Alois and holding out a hand. "Alois has said _many _things about you."

Ciel sighed, firmly grasping Claude's much larger hand. "Nice to meet you as well, I guess."

At his touch, Ciel saw Claude's oddly golden eyes flash with something predatory, and his hold on Ciel's hand tightened briefly before he let go.

Ciel opened his mouth to say something snide, but at that moment, the bell went off for first period. Snapping his mouth shut, he grabbed Soma – who had been saying a soft goodbye to Agni – and dragged him off to their first class –Calculus AB.

Soma was a junior at age 17, a few years older than Ciel, who was 14 but turning 15 in a few weeks. Ciel had strived to be in top-level math classes, taking Algebra online in 7th grade, Geometry in 8th, and both Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus online in 9th grade. Ciel had also skipped 6th grade, so aside from being the only sophomore in Calculus AB, he was also one of the youngest sophomores in the school.

Despite his youth, Ciel was better with numbers than most of the kids at the school, and proud of it. He was also great in history and science, and while he didn't especially shine in other areas, he had high enough grades in English and Art. His 4.0 GPA, perfect attendance record, and great behavior had earned him the title of class president in SGA (student government) from the administrators, but nothing else. Everything else came down to student vote, so he pretty much had no chance when it came to presidency in other clubs.

As he sat down in one of the middle rows in his math class, Ciel fiddled with his eyepatch, making sure it was mostly hidden by his bangs.

_Such a pain sometimes._

He would wear a contact to mask the discoloration in his right eye, but the eye was far too sensitive for that _and _far too sensitive to simply be left open in broad daylight. So Ciel was forced to wear the eyepatch…

And it had sort of grown on him.

When the second bell of the day rang, signaling that all students were to be in class, Ciel sat up ramrod-straight, focusing all of his attention on the teacher, Mr. Spears.

He was a strict man who stuck exactly to the textbook, and sometimes it really pissed Ciel off. He had done so many math classes online that sitting in a classroom, listening to a boring man lecture on a topic that was far more simple and easy than he made it sound, nearly made him want to flip a table.

So when a voice crackled over the intercom, "Ciel Phantomhive, please report to the front office," Ciel was ecstatic to get out of class. He said a quick goodbye to a nearly-asleep, drooling Soma and practically sprinted out of the room, hardly remembering to gather his things before he left.

As Ciel speed-walked through the hallways, the heels of his less-than-impeccable boots clicking loudly on the polished wood floors, he began to wonder why he had been called down to the office in the first place.

Of course it wouldn't be anything bad. Ciel never broke any rules. He kept his hair an appropriate length and didn't dye it. He had one earring in each ear, nothing gaudy, just small onyx stones. His eyepatch was for medical reasons. He kept his shorts knee-length and his boots no higher than the knee. He always wore the black blazer with the school logo on it and kept his white dress shirt buttoned – besides the very top one, as that was simply uncomfortable. He did everything the teachers asked of him, earned community service hours, and kept his grades in the range of ninety-six to one hundred.

It was hard to fault him.

He arrived at the office and knocked on the doorframe, catching the attention of the secretary, a very smiley man named Mr. Pluto with graying hair. "Go right in, Ciel," said Mr. Pluto cheerily.

He did just that, and to his surprise, found Claude sitting in a chair in front of the principal's desk. Another boy was there as well, but at the angle he was sitting, Ciel couldn't see his face. Just as Ciel opened his mouth to ask why he had been called down in the first place, Edward Midford, the junior class president, entered the office as well.

"Well, boys," started Miss Blanc, the elderly school principal, "we have two new students, and as class presidents, I'd like you to show them each around the school."

For some reason, the principal didn't seem very happy that the two boys were in her office. There was an odd look of disgust in her eyes, Ciel noticed.

She gestured to Claude, who smirked at Ciel. "This is Claude Faustus. He's a junior, and he will be taking A and AS level classes."

She then gestured to the other boy, whose face Ciel still couldn't see. "This is Sebastian Michaelis. He is a sophomore, and he will also be taking A and AS level classes. Sebastian and Claude are cousins from out of state. We will treat them with kindness and acceptance as we would any other students, understood?"

"Yes, Miss Blanc," Ciel and Edward responded at the same time.

At that moment, Sebastian chose to turn around. Ciel's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he took in Sebastian's appearance. His dark, soft-looking hair was cut just _so _that the back was a only a bit shorter than the front, his bangs hanging over part of the right side of his face. His full (but not exceedingly large) lips were quirked in a smirk, somehow similar to Claude's while still looking completely different. His nose was slim and perfectly straight. His skin pale and unblemished. But the best feature was probably his eyes – almost unsettling with how bright they were.

Ciel thought, _They're pretty much crimson! What sort of contacts is this guy using?_

Sebastian stood, and Ciel noted the way that the standard black school pants hugged the lean muscles of his thighs. The taller – much, much taller than Ciel – boy held out a hand for Ciel to shake, and as Ciel's hand was firmly captured by Sebastian's, Ciel felt an odd sense of déjà vu.

He also noticed a similar flashing of Sebastian's eyes to the hungry look Claude had cast him just an hour or so earlier. But instead of feeling frightened or nervous, he felt…_attracted. _

_What the hell?_

"Pleased to meet you…" he prompted, asking for Ciel's name.

"Ciel. Ciel Phantomhive," he clarified.

"Well, then I'm _very _pleased to meet you, Ciel Phantomhive," he practically purred in a sensual baritone, sending pleasurable chills down Ciel's spine. He stroked over the ring on Ciel's left thumb before pulling away. Ciel tried his hardest to fight off a sudden blush, but some of it seeped through, causing Edward to snicker behind him.

"I-I'll see you later, Miss Blanc," he said, turning and walking out of the principal's office and knowing that Sebastian would likely follow.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, stuff I write is usually about this long. 2K to 4k words. Sorry if you guys prefer longer chapters...that's just how I write. . Alright, well, review, follow, whatever else. Wish me good luck on my journey! .**


	2. Part 2: Delights

**Sorry, guys... I didn't expect it to take this long to finish the chapter. Midterms are kicking my butt. Anyways, I hope it's tolerable. I know it's a little dialogue heavy, but I'm mostly trying to set up everything so we can move on to the important stuff. Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter, by the way. **

** Kristina Mustang: Thank you so much! First reviews/comments/whatever on my stories always make me feel so happy inside. :3**

** promocat: Sorry! This one's a bit longer than the first, though.**

** Guest: Thank you as well. Writing (besides composing) is probably my favorite thing to do, so I take great pride in my style.**

**Disclaimer: Oh, I can only wish that these characters were mine.**

* * *

><p>Part 2: Delights<p>

"These violent delights have violent ends."

Ciel reminded himself that it was probably a bad idea to even consider for one moment being _involved _with Sebastian – in any sense of the word. Sebastian was _exactly _the type to crush a heart. Charming, probably intelligent, wealthy (you had to be to get into the Institute), smirking, gorgeous Sebastian…

Definitely one to be avoided.

"So, what class are you in right now, Ciel?" Sebastian asked in that damnably deep voice of his.

"Calculus AB," Ciel answered. "Let me see your schedule. Maybe we have a few classes together and I won't have to miss too many of mine."

_Here's to hoping…_

Sebastian handed the smaller boy his class schedule, printed on orange paper.

"1st period Calc AB, 2nd period AP Chemistry, 3rd Music Theory I, 4th Home Ec, 5th AP Physics, 6th AP World History, 7th Honors English Literature, 8th Advanced Orchestra," Ciel read aloud, not sure if he should be disappointed or elated.

"Well, we have…six classes together and one joint class," he finally sighed, irritated by the fact that he would be seeing Sebastian all day every day – even as his heart raced.

"What's a joint class?"

"AP Chem is a joint class. See, we have different teachers. You have Ms. Mao, and I have Mr. Lau, but they write their lesson plans together and often bring the classes together for labs and lectures.

"Anyway, we also have Calc, Theory, Physics, History, English, and Orchestra together."

Sebastian smirked, catching Ciel's eye as he gently pulled the paper out of Ciel's significantly smaller hands. "So, I can trust you to guide me to almost every class…Right, Ciel?"

"Yes, I suppose," the younger male responded reluctantly, starting off towards the A building and dutifully ignoring the pointed look Sebastian had given him.

Ciel began to explain how the school was set up. As it was an outdoor campus, there were several buildings: A, C, G, M, S, and E.

Each of the buildings was two stories tall, and almost all held at least twenty rooms on each floor. Every building was loosely labeled by the type of classrooms it held, but some were randomly scattered about the campus – not to mention the fact that every year, teachers quit or were fired, and rooms were shifted. The only rooms that remained the same were the arts classrooms, which were fairly isolated from most of the other buildings and took most of the five-minute breaks between bells to get to.

Needless to say, it took most people a few weeks to get over the Institute's somewhat large and disorienting setup.

"We missed almost all of Spears's class, and we'd be too late if we tried to go back anyways. So we can go to Mr. Doyle's class, but we'll be very early," Ciel rambled a bit as they approached the staircase.

Sebastian suddenly reached out and grabbed Ciel's wrist, stopping him in his tracks. "Why don't we just wait out here and chat a bit, then?" he suggested with a small smile. "Talk about more…personal things?"

Ciel stiffened but complied, leaning on a railing a little ways up from Sebastian, who stood at the foot of the stairs.

Ciel smirked inwardly. _From where I'm standing, we're the same height._

"So, where are you from?" Ciel asked, trying to spark the conversation that Sebastian had asked for and trying not to sound too eager.

"Florida," he answered, causing Ciel's eyebrow to twitch in curiosity. "Yeah, everyone is always surprised at that because Claude and I are so pale. I'm really not sure how it happened. We're both athletes, so it isn't like we didn't get sunlight."

"So why move here? Why Teneview?"

Not that Teneview was a _bad _place to live. A picturesque little town a little off the foot of Baker Mountain, Washington State. A few well-off families, an abundance of upper-middle class types, four or five good schools, and just about three thousand people. Ciel was well aware of the fact that many of his friends wanted to get the hell out of Teneview.

If Ciel had wanted to, he could have moved out. He had enough money and connections – even at his age – to move, out of Washington even, if he had so desired (not that Angelina would give a shit anyways). But Ciel had stayed. And he would continue to, until he had that position of power that he so desired – that his late father had won so effortlessly.

He wasn't doing it for his father, though. Not even for his poor, sweet dead mother, Rachel. Ciel was doing it for himself. He wanted to show those bastards that had stolen so much from him that he would not be broken by petty criminals such as them. Ciel would get his degree, make his climb to the top, and run Victoria's Institute for the Arts – his _kingdom _– just the way he wanted to.

"Well, our adoptive father in Florida was kind of insane, like…criminally insane," Sebastian started after a short pause. "So Claude and I moved in with our older cousin, Levi. Nice guy, very wealthy. He's out of town most of the time, so we pretty much have the place to ourselves," Sebastian explained, eyes on the sky as he spoke.

Ciel simply nodded half-heartedly, having just been yanked out of another inner monologue.

"So, what's your story?" Sebastian continued, plowing on. "What's up with that wicked eyepatch?"

_Shit, _Ciel thought. _Think of an excuse, idiot._

Just as Ciel opened his mouth to give an evasive answer, the bell for next class rang and students began pouring out of classrooms in droves. Ciel let out a small breath of relief at this, which didn't go unnoticed by Sebastian.

"Don't think I'll let this slide by," Sebastian said over the sudden din created by dozens of bustling students. "I still want to know!"

"Fine," Ciel responded, rolling his eyes mildly. "But at lunch, not now."

With that, Ciel turned and began moving up the stairs, weaving around careless students with no hesitation. Sebastian followed him, equally sure of his steps.

To Ciel's dismay, when they entered the class, a substitute was sitting at Mr. Doyle's desk, flipping through a small black notebook.

"Oh, too bad," Ciel mumbled as he pulled his own notebook out of his messenger bag and scowled at it slightly, sitting down at his usual desk. "I wanted to show Mr. Doyle some of the suggestions I had."

"Suggestions for what?" Sebastian asked, genuinely curious as he sat down in the seat to Ciel's right.

"Ah, Arthur – er, Mr. Doyle, that is, sings lead in a local band called Sherlocked. I help him a little bit with their songs and sometimes play with them," Ciel replied, more than a little bit proud.

"That's pretty cool. You'll have to take me to see them perform sometime," Sebastian said, leaning in and putting his left hand on the back of Ciel's chair. "What do you play, Ciel?"

Ciel blinked and flushed slightly, suddenly feeling a bit out of sorts due to the taller boy's proximity. "I, uh –" he cleared his throat, moving his eyes away from Sebastian's piercing gaze and towards the lapel of his open school-issued blazer. "I play violin, cello, piano, and I can sing on a good day."

"Oh? I'd just _love _to hear you sing for me…" Sebastian whispered, the warm, enticing scent of cinnamon wafting over Ciel's face.

Ciel's pink cheeks darkened to a nice shade of maroon as he thought about what exactly _that _statement could mean, and Sebastian smirked, leaning forward even more.

"Well, I sing as well, so maybe we could do a duet sometime, Ciel," he finished, none-too-subtly resting his right hand over Ciel's and stroking over Ciel's golden signet ring with two fingers.

"A-as if!" Ciel finally managed to stutter out after a long pause, blushing fiercely, just as the final bell rang. Sebastian leaned back into his own chair, looking thoroughly pleased, and turned his smug gaze towards the board.

"Okay, class," the portly old man began with a smile. "Mr. Doyle had a meeting today in Olympia, so he left me a simple note with what you kids should be doing today."

"Ugh, shut _up_," whined Hannah Annafellows under her breath from behind Ciel. "Just get the hell on with it."

Hannah was a lovely girl. Fairly tall, with a gifted figure. Dark blue eyes that seemed to spark in excitement. Long blonde hair that she frequently dyed purple. She gave off a little bit of pseudo-non-conformist vibe, but so did 90% of the school anyways. Bottom line: she was beautiful…

Until she opened her mouth.

She usually kept fairly quiet, but when she did speak, it took all of Ciel's willpower not to whip around and slap the bitch. On top of that, she had some strange infatuation with Alois. She followed him around like a puppy, and whenever he asked her to get something – quite rudely, Ciel thought – she did it without hesitation.

_What a damn shame, _Ciel thought._ Two unfortunate personality traits ruining the whole package. She could be quite popular if she tried._

Unlike Ciel, who could never be popular no matter how hard he tried.

"The end of the semester is approaching in just over two weeks. The semester exam has already been decided on in full, and here are the instructions for the first part of it.

"It will be three parts: fact recall, analysis, and composition. Right now, you will begin working on the composition part. Here's a list of requirements –" here he handed a stack of papers to a girl on the other side of the room to pass out, "– and use Sibelius to begin working."

There were few things Ciel got excited about. Music, theater, and…actually, that was probably it. So when a rare opportunity such as this arose, he couldn't help the feelings that coursed through him.

However, Ciel restrained the bit of excitement he was feeling for the project, keeping his face carefully schooled. However, once he had the instruction paper in his grasp, he took off for the computer stations, eager to begin writing.

In his haste, he didn't notice the crimson-colored gaze which amusedly followed his movements the entire time.

* * *

><p>At the end of class, Ciel popped his knuckles – much to Hannah's chagrin – and smirked, feeling accomplished. He had written out the bassline and the chord progressions for the song. He had started writing the melody over it all, but so far was only about three-quarters of the way through.<p>

_I'll show it to Mr. Doyle next class and finish it then as well, _he decided as he logged out of the computer and packed away his things. Just as Ciel started to stand from his seat, a heavy, warm hand on his shoulder caused Ciel to tense up in surprise.

"Hey, Ciel!" said a familiar voice. Ciel sighed inwardly and braced himself for the onslaught of sexual harassment that always followed the greeting.

"Aleister." Ciel responded coldly, turning to face the older boy. He made no attempt at furthering the conversation from there, instead preferring to wait for Aleister to get to his point.

"I was just wondering," the blonde started a few moments later, bracing both hands on the computer desk behind Ciel with a charming smile. The idea of locking him in was not lost on Ciel. "You want to come over to my place tonight and help me…work on my piece?"

Ciel's skin crawled in disgust as the other boy gazed down at him expectantly. "No." he answered flatly.

Aleister's smile didn't falter. If anything, it widened. "Come on, Ciel. You _know _I'll make it worth your while," he said more softly, leaning in towards Ciel. "Come home with me, little robin," he whispered into the side of Ciel's neck.

Ciel shuddered, discomfort transforming into anxiety, and raised his hands to push away the taller boy, his one good eye darting around the room and noting that all of the kids had their noses in their phones for the last few minutes of class.

"Fuck off, Aleister. I'm not interested in your _piece_." Ciel asserted, pushing harder. However, his spindly arms helped very little, and Aleister moved impossibly closer, fitting his much larger arms around Ciel's waist and breathing on Ciel's collarbone. Immediately, Ciel began panicking, imagining a different, rougher set of hands prying him open-

_Shitshitshitshitshit—_

In a blink, Aleister was being pulled off of him, and Sebastian was gripping him tightly by his left shoulder.

"Did you want something?" Sebastian asked, calmly and with a pleasant, placating smile. Ciel still shivered at the cold look in his crimson eyes. "If you want something, I'm sure you can ask him later. Ciel's a bit sick today."

Aleister frowned in annoyance and pulled away from Sebastian's grasp. "Whatever. I'll see you later, Ciel."

Ciel sighed, slumping down onto the computer desk and staring at the opposite wall. He started slightly when Sebastian moved into his line of sight but didn't look away. Ciel wasn't sure how long the two of them stood there, waiting for the other to say something.

"Hey, Ciel?" Sebastian said. "The bell rang. It's time to go to 5th block."

Ciel stood there a few more moments, trying to shake off the memories, before fully standing up.

"It's actually time for lunch. We can drop off our stuff at Mr. Humphries's classroom before going to the cafeteria," Ciel said quickly, self-consciously brushing off his blazer at the hips where Chambers's hands had been. He picked up his bag from the ground where he'd left it and strode out of the empty room without another word.

Sebastian kept his face carefully blank as he followed, not giving any hint as to what he truly thought of the ordeal.

"Hi, Ciel," said Mr. Humphries shortly when Ciel pushed open the door of the Physics classroom.

"Morning, Mr. Humphries. We have a new student, and I'm showing him around. Sebastian Michaelis, a sophomore," Ciel introduced, gesturing to the taller boy behind him.

Sebastian wiggled his fingers at the stern older man, who grimaced in slight irritation. "How were you in Physics at your old school?" Mr. Humphries asked blandly.

"Eh, I was alright. I had a B, which was higher than most kids. We had a really bad teacher," Sebastian replied, but there was a strangely mischievous look in his eyes.

"Well, Ciel only sits with one other student, so you can join that table," said Mr. Humphries. "Ciel, I trust that you will bring Sebastian up to your level in this class."

Ciel simply nodded, grabbed his cell phone out of his bag, and left again, Sebastian on his heels.

"So…want to talk about that eye-patch now?" Sebastian prodded as he trailed behind Ciel just a step to the right.

Ciel stroked the Phantomhive family crest engraved in the gold ring on his right hand before answering in a sigh. "Not really."

"Not even the short version?" he continued to ask, causing Ciel's irritation to overcome his nerves.

"The _short version _is that I had some chemicals poured into my eye, and now it's fucked up. Thanks for asking," Ciel snapped.

Sebastian remained silent the rest of the way to lunch.

As they approached the cafeteria building, Ciel pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his news feed on Facebook, attempting to distract himself from his own thoughts. He scoffed internally when he saw Elizabeth's numerous posts, positively glowing with the joy she felt with her new boyfriend.

_That won't be lasting long, I'm sure._

Elizabeth Midford was Ciel's third and last self-proclaimed best friend. Elizabeth, however, was not a boy and was definitely not gay like the other two. In fact, she had tried – numerous times – to convince Ciel that _he_ was straight so that she could have him, to no avail.

Just the thought of dating Elizabeth (or any girl, for that matter) caused Ciel to laugh quietly. He'd tried that before, and the results were disastrous, to say the least.

When they reached the cafeteria, Ciel was in a marginally better mood than he had been when they'd left the Music Theory room. He even managed not to scowl too meanly at Alois when his name was called, quite loudly, from across the outdoor eating area.

When he reached the table, he noticed that Alois was sitting with not only Soma, Agni, Hannah, and Elizabeth, but also Elizabeth's new boyfriend Derrick, and Sebastian's creepy cousin, Claude.

Soma seemed unusually energetic, practically bouncing out of his seat as he watched Ciel walk up with Sebastian.

Ciel sighed, noting that there was now hardly any room for him to comfortably sit at the usual table, let alone Sebastian. Ciel reluctantly slid in next to Claude, whose facial expression did not change – although he felt the older boy's hand twitch against his thigh underneath the table.

"I'm gonna go buy some lunch," Sebastian announced. Before he could leave, Soma sprang up from his seat, saying, "I'll join you!" After a moment's hesitation, Agni hastened to follow his younger boyfriend.

Soma could see, as the trio stood in a lunch line, that Sebastian was carefully looking at him out of the corner of his eye, so he addressed the taller boy, a large smile on his face. "Hi, I'm Soma. What's your name?" he asked sunnily.

Sebastian turned fully towards Soma and smiled pleasantly. "I'm Sebastian. Sebastian Michaelis. It's nice to meet a good friend of Ciel's."

Soma immediately pounced on the opening. "Yes, yes! Ciel is like a little brother to me. I have learned so many things from him. But…he is not like a little brother to you, right?" He replied, gesturing wildly as he spoke.

Sebastian smirked. "I don't think I'd want the things I want from Ciel if I thought of him as a little brother."

Soma paused before continuing, somehow feeling a little bit uncomfortable after that statement. "Um…well, why don't you ask him out, then?"

Noticing Agni's slight stiffening behind him, Soma blindly reached back to squeeze his boyfriend's hand. _Trust me_, he tried to convey with his grip.

Sebastian's smirk softened into a more earnest expression, but Soma felt that there was still something off. "Well, I was planning on it eventually, but he seems a bit uncomfortable with people. I don't want to push him or anything," he answered kindly.

_Somehow, that seems at odds with the last thing he said, _Soma thought to himself.

"You seem like a nice enough guy… As long as you treat Ciel well and consider his feelings, I think you will be a good boyfriend. Just take things slow with him. Right, Agni?" At this, he turned around to face Agni, winking hugely to push his agreement.

"Erm…right. Yes." Agni was not one-hundred percent sure about Sebastian yet, but he agreed to make Soma happy.

Sebastian smiled again, gesturing for them to move forward in the lunch line. "I'm glad I have your approval," he said softly, running his left hand through his hair.

Agni just happened to catch sight of something odd on Sebastian's hand as he moved it. Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed it. When he realized what he had done, he let go immediately, dark skin flushing in embarrassment. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I just thought I saw something."

Surprisingly, Sebastian didn't jerk his hand away. He just smirked. "You must have seen my ink," he replied, clearly displaying his hand for the two teenagers to see. "You like it?"

Soma gasped. "But isn't that…"

Sebastian filled in the blanks. "A pentagram? Yeah. Cool, right?"

Agni's eyes widened almost comically as he took in the dark tattoo drawn onto the thin, pale skin stretched over the back of Sebastian's left hand. It was a pentagram, surrounded by the word 'Tetragrammaton' in thick cursive, and there were several smaller words and symbols Agni couldn't make out. With a jolt, he was suddenly reminded of the days not so long ago, when he did as he pleased with no thought towards the suffering of others. He shivered uneasily at the memories.

"Not really… It's kind of creepy. Why do you have that?" Soma said eventually. "And aren't you underage anyways?"

"It was a sixteenth birthday present from Claude a few days before we left my old town. It was easy enough to get my dad to sign the minor consent form. Just a little reminder that I can't forget the demons of my past, as my demons make me who I am."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between the three boys after that comment, so Sebastian picked up a tray and began piling it high with food.

"Anyways," Sebastian continued where he'd left off a few minutes ago, smirking. "Thanks again for your blessing – and the advice. It really means a lot to me. See you."

With that, Sebastian turned coolly on his heel, paid for his food and left the cafeteria without a backwards glance - leaving Soma and Agni to shake off the unnerving feeling he had left them with.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh Glob, I had no idea where to end that. Hopefully it wasn't too terrible. Sorry again for the super-long wait, and I hope it lived up to the expectations created by the first chapter. At least I got up to 3500 words this time! :) I'll probably go back and edit this later, because I'm not 100% satisfied with it ( I just really wanted to get something out there). Anyways, review, follow, favorite if you like! Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings. **


	3. Part 3: Sorrows

**Hey, guys. Sorry it took so long. The last two weeks have just been getting busier and busier. (I got mostly good grades on midterms, though.) The next chapter is already fairly planned out, so it should (hopefully) come a little faster than this one. :P**

** promocat: Yeah, that's a bit of a running theme with him.**

** Guest: Thanks so much! That's what I aim for...a not-so-typical school AU. Hopefully it doesn't fall to pieces. .**

**_Disclaimer: _I own nothing but the plot. See you on the flip side.**

* * *

><p>Part 3: Sorrows<p>

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies - but in battalions."

"So…Sebastian's pretty hot, yeah?" said Alois a few minutes after the three other boys had left, wiggling his carefully-plucked eyebrows at Ciel. Ciel looked up from the chess game he had been playing on his phone. _And losing. _"Looks like a nice fuck, and God knows you need it."

_Alois, you fucking -_

Hannah nodded obediently in agreement, which did nothing to assuage Ciel's growing displeasure.

Ciel fought not to throw something at his idiot blonde friend, instead opting to squeeze his eyes shut and sigh in a practice of patience.

"Unlike you, Alois," Ciel began slowly, "I'm not a fucking slut. I don't throw myself at every random guy that comes by. Offense intended, Claude."

At that, Alois and Elizabeth cackled and Derrick laughed nervously, quietly. Ciel smirked at seeing how blatantly uncomfortable he was. "Well, some taken," Claude responded, a faint irritation seeming to pass across his eyes.

Ciel rolled his eyes, and, in doing so, caught sight of Sebastian coming back around the corner from the entrance to the cafeteria, Soma and Agni not far behind. Sebastian was carrying a tray piled high with food.

Alois followed his gaze and stopped laughing. "Come on—just look at that look in his eyes, Ciel! He's clearly _starving _for you," he said dramatically, sending Elizabeth into a fit of squealing giggles.

When Ciel _did _look into Sebastian's eyes, he did see _something. _He wouldn't admit it to anyone other than himself, but seeing that dark, determined, almost demonic edge to his crimson gaze did kind of turn him on.

Only a _little. _

Sebastian reached the table and sat down next to Ciel. Amiably, he said, "So, what were you guys talking about?"

Ciel opened his mouth but was beat to the punch by Alois.

"Nothing important!" the blonde said cheerily. "On a completely unrelated note, I just want to let you know future reference that Ciel is, in fact, single and has an absolutely gorgeous body underneath all those clothes." He winked, just as Soma and Agni reached the table.

Before Ciel could control his blush and retort sharply back, Sebastian responded, with a noncommittal smirk, "Good to know."

After a few moments' pause, Sebastian followed up. "And how would you know, Alois? Have you and Ciel had sex in the past?" he asked quite bluntly, eyes sparking with mischief.

Derrick choked on his macaroni.

Alois laughed brightly. "I _wish_! Not like I didn't try. I'm not really his type, though," he revealed, suddenly pouting and shooting a look at Ciel.

Ciel's blush deepened impossibly further as he recalled the brazen advances Alois had made not too long ago. "I'm right here, you know," he snapped.

"So sorry, babe," Alois replied jauntily. "I just thought that Sebastian here should know what he'll be missing out on if he doesn't tap that."

Alois then climbed over Claude to stroke Ciel's pale, faintly blushing cheek. "Maybe I could convince you to change your mind about me?"

"You're pitiful, Alois. Like I'd ever want you," Ciel replied coldly.

This wasn't one-hundred percent true, as Alois very well knew. That day, just this past summer, Ciel had actually come _quite _close to allowing Alois to have him fully. It had been during one of the lowest points of his life thus far, and Ciel would probably never be able to completely trust Alois because he had taken advantage of that for something as trivial as sex.

Alois pouted again, though Ciel could tell Alois knew what he was thinking, and sat back in his seat, wrapping both of his arms around Claude's torso. "Ah, well. I'll always have Claude, anyways."

Sebastian suddenly decided to speak up again. "Ciel, why aren't you eating anything?"

Ciel was grateful for the fact that several conversations began around the table shortly after that, so that he could talk to Sebastian without other people interjecting.

"I don't eat much besides sweets," Ciel answered, leaning his chin on his fist and giving his full attention to the taller boy as his parents had taught him from a very young age. "Especially when it comes to shitty school food."

"Ah, I see…" Sebastian replied. "Well, typically I would make lunch for Claude and me – I really like cooking. I could totally make lunch for you as well, if you'd like."

Ciel was surprised, to say the least. "Oh, that's not necessary – "

"It's no trouble at all, Ciel. I'd hate to see you starve," Sebastian insisted, that charming smile still filling Ciel's line of vision.

Ciel considered it for a few more moments. Then, a very brief, but _very_ intriguing, image of Sebastian docilely standing at a stove and preparing dinner passed through his mind. The thought of it made him laugh quietly.

"Something funny?"

"It's nothing…just that I can't imagine you doing something so…_domestic _as cooking or baking."

Sebastian smirked again, clearly amused. "What, does it detract from the masculine image I project?"

Ciel scoffed. "Maybe."

Sebastian's eyes glinted again with that mischievous light as he shifted closer to Ciel on the already too-short bench, leaning in to achieve maximum effect. "Well, I can assure you; I'm one-hundred percent male, Ciel," he whispered with a small smirk.

Ciel's eyes narrowed, even as some parts of his body betrayed him by taking interest. _I don't doubt that._ "Why is every other sentence out of your mouth some sort of come-on?"

"You just bring out that side of me, I guess," the older boy murmured in reply. Ciel scoffed, not impressed.

"Ciel!" Elizabeth suddenly shouted excitedly, even though Ciel was only two feet away. Ciel started in surprise, suddenly feeling disoriented as Sebastian pulled back. "When are your auditions for 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' again?"

Ciel exhaled slowly, a deep, long-suffering sigh that spoke of years of anguish. But before he could berate the flighty blonde, Sebastian perked up. "Ciel, you're in theater as well? Why didn't you tell me?"

Ciel frowned, mildly irritated. "Well, it's not as if we've known each other for a grand total of two hours or anything." He added, "And firstly, Elizabeth, you uncultured swine, it's not 'A Midsummer's Night Dream'; it's A Midsummer Night's Dream. God. Secondly, the audition is on Friday."

Elizabeth immediately got fired up. "Hey, I am _not _swine, Ciel! And you know by now to call me Lizzy, not Elizabeth!" she screeched.

Her new flavor of the month winced, then leapt into the fray. "Yeah, Ciel. Swine _was _a bit overboard."

"Really?" entered Alois, drawing out the word with a laugh. "I thought it was pretty fucking appropriate. I mean, come on…look at how pink she is. Lizzy does look a bit pig-like right now, right?"

"Yeah, I have to agree," Soma put in. "Her nostrils are flaring, too."

And just like that, one remark and everyone was bickering about whether or not Elizabeth looked like a pig.

_Idiots. There are idiots all around me._

Ciel rolled his eyes in exasperation, turning his attention back toward his phone.

"So…acting?" Sebastian prompted a few minutes later. "Can you at least tell me about that?"

Ciel huffed, shortly this time. "Yeah, I guess," he drawled, pushing some hair out of his left eye.

"I've been acting since I was probably about ten. My parents liked to read me Shakespeare instead of Dr. Seuss or whatever, acting out all the parts for me as I fell asleep. So, naturally, I took a liking to Shakespeare. I'm in musical theater at this school, and the school does a Shakespeare play every year.

"I'm sure as hell not very well-liked, though, and the auditions are almost entirely student-run, so I didn't get a part last year, and I probably won't get one this year. The auditions are this Friday; I'm going for the part of Robin Goodfellow," Ciel finished.

"What a shame," Sebastian lamented softly. "Can I help you with your audition at all…so that you have the best chance possible of getting your part?"

Ciel realized just what was happening at that same moment that he opened his mouth to reply. As a result, what came out was: "I don't need your charity, Sebastian."

Sebastian frowned slightly. "That's not – "

Ciel sighed again, cutting him off. " – what you meant? Sure it was. You were probably hoping to get a fuck out of it, too. No thanks, Casanova."

Sebastian looked marginally surprised, and as Ciel stood from the table, annoyed with himself, Sebastian and the whole situation, he didn't see Claude's satisfied smirk.

Sebastian watched with an unreadable look on his face as Ciel disappeared around a corner.

After Ciel was out of sight, Claude made sure no one was paying attention to them before he began speaking quietly to Sebastian. "Casanova? Kid's a riot. And you're an idiot, Sebastian."

Sebastian grimaced, turning his face away from the majority of the table as he did so. "Shut up. Like you know anything, Claude. Just back the hell off, alright?"

He glanced around the table to make sure that no one was listening to his conversation with his older cousin. "Sometimes I can't fucking help myself, you know that. So just…leave me alone for right now."

Claude sighed. "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, stud."

Sebastian frowned again but turned away, rejoining the conversation with an easygoing smile.

Ciel shut his eyes and leaned against the wall.

As soon as he had left the lunch table, he'd checked his phone and seen that there were still fifteen minutes left to waste in his lunch block.

He actually hadn't been that upset initially, but goose bumps were trailing up his arms, and Ciel was suddenly feeling cold and bereft.

He had walked as quickly as possible away from the lunchroom, just seeing the odd look on Agni's face as he left. His trembling hands told him that he just needed to be alone.

So he'd come to the nearest bathroom. Ciel hid in the handicap stall, slid to the floor, plugged in his headphones, and escaped from reality.

The dulcet tones of a soft, woeful cello solo filled his ears, a Brahms. It was the piano quartet that Ciel had been listening to for as long as he could remember. Ciel sunk into memory.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_I'd say he's worth a fortune. Just look at those fucking eyes. Never been touched, that's for sure."_

_"__I don't know, man…he looks a bit young, Hughston."_

_"__You dumbass, people are into that."_

_Ciel shivered in fear, his tiny hands crossed over his naked abdomen as if trying to hold himself together. Dried tears laid across his pale cheeks, still round with the fat of his baby years. A myriad of inflamed, bloodied lashes littered the otherwise perfectly smooth skin of his back. His cerulean eyes, while broken, glared with the embers of indignation. He could not, however, restrain a conditioned whimper when the shorter of the two men moved closer to his cage._

_"__D-don't…don't touch me," Ciel whispered, voice hoarse from screaming in agony just hours before._

_"__Oh, don't you worry, Ciel," the man replied, laughing. "I won't be. You'll be going to the highest bidder."_

_"__Is anyone still gonna want him with all that shit on his back?" the other man asked doubtfully._

_"__Dammit, Thummel. How the hell is that my fault? I told you to be careful with him, and you went and whipped him. If we don't get the money for him, then you'll be paying for it, you fucking idiot."_

_The stockier man then turned back to Ciel, smiling cruelly. "You better hope someone makes you their bitch, Ciel. If not, we'll have to sell you in parts instead of the whole package."_

_Ciel exhaled shakily. "G-guh…" he started to say. A wheezing cough wracked the eleven-year-old's body before he continued weakly. "G-go…to h-hell. You d-dick."_

_The man named Hughston sneered – he had quite an ugly face - but turned on his heel and left the room, muttering agitatedly about damaged goods and ferociously kicking a bucket as he went. _

_The other man, Thummel, remained, seeming increasingly anxious as Ciel continued to stare coldly at him. "Heh, he's just...uh…" He never finished the sentence, eventually opting to simply leave the room awkwardly._

_Ciel sighed and slowly turned over, sinking into a restless sleep with no hope of rescue in sight._

* * *

><p>Ciel was jarred out of the painful recollection by the chorus of the next song on his only playlist, Carolina Liar's Show Me What I'm Looking For. He yanked the earbuds out and tucked them into his pocket with a deep sigh.<p>

Ciel rubbed his good eye blearily, momentarily confused as to why he was sitting on a filthy bathroom floor covered in only-God-knows-what liquids and substances, before he realized that it was probably nearing the end of his lunch break.

He scrambled up from the not-white tiles, wobbling for a second in his heeled boots – which he was wholeheartedly regretting wearing today – and wrenched open the stall door.

Only to come face-to-face with Claude.

"Uh…hey," Ciel said uncomfortably, flinching away slightly even as he spoke.

"Hey. Alois wanted me to make sure you were okay," he replied, which made no sense. "Everyone's leaving lunch and you weren't back yet, so - "

"Why the hell couldn't Alois come see me himself?" Ciel retorted shortly, trying to edge away from the much larger boy.

"He said he had to go talk to his Spanish teacher," Claude responded flatly, although Ciel noted that an unreadable emotion passed across his gaze as he spoke.

_Sure,_ Ciel thought dubiously.

Outwardly, he sighed. "Whatever. I'm gonna be late for Physics," he said, turning for the door and effectively ending the conversation. He strode out straight-backed, and a few seconds later, he heard Claude's footsteps fade off in the direction of the gym building.

Uneasiness gripped Ciel's heart like a vice as he walked quickly away from the bathroom, feeling as though maybe he should just get a sick pass from the nurse and get Angelina to pick him up.

At that moment, his phone vibrated in his pants pocket. After unlocking it, he read a text from his aunt.

_Speak of the devil, and he shall appear, _Ciel thought.

_Hey honey, I have a date tonight, I won't be home til around midnight. So youll be home by yourself for a few hours more than normal, ok?_

Ciel's eyebrow rose slightly, and he sent a brief response. _Sure._

His aunt, who was _devastated _when Vincent had died almost four years ago, was going on a _date_? _Who the hell with?_

_And why does she, of all people, get to move on from this when I...while I am still affected by the incident all this time later? _Ciel thought bitterly, shoving his phone back into his pocket with a short exhale.

The next few hours seemed to pass in no time at all. Ciel had felt like he was in a daze as he passed through Physics and English, Sebastian silent at his side.

He leaned back on a short brick wall near the bus ramp, listening to Soma chatter at him about his Home Ec class and feeling even more anxious than he had right after the memory, even more than he had when Aleister had assaulted him in Theory class that morning.

_Well, Tanaka will be home with me, but that isn't exactly reassuring._

Soma seemed to notice that he was thinking about something. "Hey, Ciel? What's up?" he asked, concern clearly seeping through in his tone.

"Oh, it's…it's nothing. Do you…Soma, do you want to come over to my house?" Ciel asked hesitantly. It usually wasn't him asking people to come over, so he felt a little bit uncomfortable.

Soma looked surprised at first at the sudden question, but his facial expression quickly turned ecstatic. "Yeah, of course! Like, right now?"

Ciel really felt like he didn't want to be alone for any stretch of time, so he nodded slowly. "Yeah, if that's okay."

Soma's smile seemed to soften into something different – something more understanding, and Ciel felt a miniscule portion of his nerves disappear. "Okay, let's go." He then pulled Ciel towards his bus with a loose grip on his wrist.

* * *

><p>Ciel smirked at his laptop screen as he crushed Soma for the fifth time that afternoon. "Mate."<p>

"Dammit, Ciel," Soma groaned, frustrated. "I'm _bored._" He dragged out the word unnecessarily as he turned off the monitor of Ciel's other computer. "Can we play something other than computer chess? You always win anyway."

"Well, that _is _kind of the point," he laughed, not unkindly. "Sure, what do you want to do?" Ciel asked, feeling far more relaxed than he had an hour or so ago. He stretched out like a cat on his couch, smiling contentedly.

"Well, I texted Lizzy a few minutes ago saying tha – "

"You _what_?" Ciel shouted, the pleasant warmth dissipating from his mind in an instant. "Why?"

"Well, you're being boring. So I invited Lizzy over," Soma replied plainly, seeming to genuinely not realize what he'd done.

"Man, I thought you understood. She _talks, _Soma_. _She's gonna tell Alois, and he'll bring Claude, who will bring Sebastian. I didn't want a bunch of people in my house, Soma…Fuck," Ciel moaned, covering his face with well-manicured hands.

"Oh, jeez, Ciel. Don't be so lame," Soma laughed good-naturedly. "It's just a few of your own friends. It won't hurt you to just hang out with them…The night is still young," he said, gesturing to the large windows framing the orange, late afternoon sun.

"Whatever." He continued a few moments later. "They should be here any – "

Ciel was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing, followed by Tanaka, the household's kind and elderly groundskeeper, answering it. A few moments later, Tanaka walked into the living room, toting around a pile of coats, with _exactly _the four people Ciel had just mentioned.

"Well," Ciel began. "Welcome to the party, my friends."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry it took so long, guys. It's been a mess. The chapter didn't go in exactly the direction I originally intended, but that's alright. It just makes chapter 4 even easier to write... so, hopefully it doesn't take too long for the next chapter. Sorry it was so short, but I hope it was decent enough for a review! :)**


	4. Part 4: Talk

**A/N: Glob, I am infinitely sorry that this took so long. Let's keep this brief. Thanks for the reviews, read on! :)**

**WC: 3618**

* * *

><p>Part 4: Talk<p>

"I just want to talk."

Ciel reclined comfortably on his couch; he only tensed marginally as Alois curled up next to the younger, dark-haired teenager on the cream-colored couch cushion.

Alois looked up at him with uncharacteristically sweet eyes, stroking down the center of Ciel's chest. It reminded Ciel of many summer nights spent in almost exactly the same way, with an old favorite rolling on the big screen and Alois's soft blonde hair tickling against his chin. "I'm sorry I was a dick earlier. Thanks for letting me into your house, Ciel."

Ciel looked up at the ceiling, sighing quietly. "Whatever. Just don't bring up that shit again."

When Alois, Sebastian, Claude and Lizzy had arrived in his living room, Ciel was initially enraged. But then, Sebastian, Claude and Soma all started using the Wii while Lizzy went upstairs to pick through Ciel's outfits. Alois had puttered around for a bit, touching pictures and things before coming to lay down on the couch next to Ciel.

And surprisingly, Ciel wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as he had expected to be. He actually…enjoyed having the all of the people in his home. He felt safer.

Although, he still didn't feel safe enough to take his switchblade out of his pocket.

Alois's apology was probably for more than just bringing up the incident, which Ciel knew. It was for making fun of Elizabeth, for trying to hook Sebastian up with Ciel, and for getting with a random stranger the previous night. Alois was apologizing for all of the behavior that he knew Ciel didn't approve of, but Ciel knew from experience that it was all in vain.

_Alois will always be Alois._

"So, Auntie had a date?" Alois prompted, tightening his grip around Ciel's ribcage as he spoke. Ciel was mostly okay with it, as it _was _Alois, after all. However, his body still involuntarily protested somewhat against the vice-like hold. Sebastian turned around upon hearing Alois's voice, and irritation passed across his face as he took in the mess of limbs tangled on the couch.

"Yeah," Ciel replied, a note of wonder in his voice. "When I asked about him, she said he was 'very cute'. Tall, long brown hair, green eyes, and glasses. Kind of quiet, though, and works in education," he finished.

"Ew," said Alois. "Doesn't sound like her type at all."

"Yeah, that's what I've been thinking," Ciel answered honestly. "Although, he does sound a bit like Dad."

Alois seemed to hesitantly agree. "Uh…yeah. I thought that too."

Ciel's father, while he'd been very popular amongst his schoolmates in high school, had really been quite the bashful loner up until about seventh grade. Ciel had seen many photos of Vincent from when he was in elementary and middle school. He had worn his hair a bit long, and kept black browline glasses perched in front of his warm brown eyes. Ill-fitting clothes, a weight that refused to catch up with his height and a guitar constantly strapped to his back completed the persona.

When he reached puberty, however, his build filled out, he began wearing contacts, and suddenly he was a completely different person. Girls flocked to him in droves, guys either worshipped the ground he walked on or envied him to no end, and the majority of the teachers thought he was one of the few students in the entire school worth anything.

Ciel seriously doubted that his aunt's new toy could match up with that.

As he rolled his eyes at Alois's awkward manner of answering, Ciel caught sight of the framed photo sitting on a coffee table nearby. It was one of the few physical photographs of his parents that he had left after the fire. It was a sweet picture from when his parents had first gotten married. Rachel Phantomhive, in all her glowing glory, was smiling euphorically. Her normally soft and mild face was set to burst with ecstasy as she perched in her newlywed's arms.

Vincent was placing a kiss on her pale cheek, his eyes closed and his posture relaxed and content as he held his wife like the princess she was.

However, in the background, just right of Rachel's flat white shoe, a mess of crimson could be seen – Angelina stood, in her ruby-colored, skin-tight dress, flashy lipstick, and her signature bright red hair pulled up into an elaborate bun. She would look positively stunning if it weren't for the absolute contempt clearly showing through in her forced smile and the furiously envious – yet fitting – scarlet flush adorning her cheeks.

As a child, Ciel had always thought the picture a pleasing memory from his parents' past captured in a moment. It was a beautiful relic depicting what his life could become. However, once he'd escaped from those bastards who had kidnapped him – and realized he was very much gay – he began seeing it as a cruel reminder that when someone wins, everybody else has to lose.

And Ciel wanted to win.

Ciel suddenly noticed that his hands were shaking, and he climbed over Alois and off of the couch. "I'm just going to the bathroom," he said at Alois's questioning glance.

Twenty minutes later, Ciel had not come back yet.

"Ciel?" Ciel heard his name being called from a few rooms away.

_Fuck._

Ciel was currently kneeling on the soft, black carpet of the bathroom attached to his bedroom, barely able to keep his head up from the bowl. The leftover acidic taste stung in the back of his throat, and he coughed weakly, running his hand through his hair and slumping to the floor just as the door was wrenched open.

Ciel flinched slightly as he heard the doorknob smack against the wall. "You idiot, don't…" here he broke off to swallow painfully. "…don't do that, you'll break something."

Sebastian scooped Ciel up into his arms and sat him on the counter. "I'm not a fucking baby, Sebastian," Ciel protested almost inaudibly, leaning against the wall even as he spoke. His eye blearily followed Sebastian around the room as he frantically looked for something.

"That…that closet to your left. T-top shelf," Ciel rasped, lifting his left hand to make the gesture.

"Thanks," Sebastian answered. He retrieved a small black rag from the top shelf – just like Ciel had said – and ran it under the faucet.

"What the fuck happened?" Sebastian asked suddenly, as he wiped Ciel's face gently. "Weren't you just going to the bathroom?"

Ciel frowned, trying to bat away Sebastian's hands futilely. "Didn't I just say I'm not a kid? I can wipe my own damn face," he snapped, suddenly with more energy. "I hardly know you, so don't touch me like that."

Sebastian's eyes, just for an instant, revealed a strange emotion that Ciel flinched back from instinctively. Then, he smiled gently, the moment gone as fast as it had come.

"Fair enough," Sebastian replied, backing up a step. He tossed the cloth onto Ciel's lap. "Can you at least tell me what happened?"

Ciel sighed before continuing to wipe the vomit off of his cheeks. The situation had finally caught up with him, and he felt his cheeks flush with shame.

"The same incident that took my eye was the same incident that took my parents," Ciel said in a very subdued manner. He had turned away from Sebastian and was staring at the reflection of his own face in the mirror. Even with the simple, black silk eye patch covering his ruined eye from view, Ciel could picture all too well, in his mind's eye, the odd violet discoloration and spider web of scars reaching outward from his eyelids. "The anniversary of their death is in a few weeks, and I always get like this around the date every year."

"That's all?" Sebastian asked softly, his face not revealing anything.

Ciel cautiously slid down from the counter, moving towards a different door than the one Sebastian had come through. When he pushed the door open, he came into his bedroom, just a few steps right of his bed. Ciel carefully padded over to it, and he sat down lightly. Crossing one leg over the other daintily, he finally answered, "Yeah. That's all."

Ciel watched Sebastian take in his room. The room's walls were painted a deep blue with gold trim. The king-sized bed, pushed against the back wall, sat across from a large flat-screen and had a small black nightstand on either side. Heavy, soft drapes adorned the canopy bed, and Sebastian pushed one aside as he moved to sit next to Ciel.

"Ciel…" Sebastian started, then darted his eyes towards the floor. "I'm going to get something to drink."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Why are you telling me?"

After Sebastian left, Ciel reached into the left-hand pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out his phone. As he reached the calendar app, he frowned slightly. The anniversary of Rachel and Vincent's death…and Ciel's kidnapping…was only thirteen days away. Chills ran down his spine, and he resisted throwing his phone at a wall, instead opting to set it gently down onto the dresser next to his bed.

He moved into a more comfortable position on the bed, and then it occurred to him.

_"__I hardly know you..."_

Why _was _Sebastian so familiar with him? Ciel wasn't especially attractive or enticing like Alois. He was blatantly, unabashedly caustic at worst and intentionally standoffish at best. And yet, Sebastian wanted to sit with him at lunch and in every class they had together. For some reason, Sebastian _flirted _with him and made an attempt to converse with him. Somehow, Sebastian had wiped _vomit _off of Ciel's face and not even hesitated once.

Ciel winced inwardly at the still-fresh memory.

And _Claude –_ what a fucking creep. He banged Alois, and then immediately began pursuing Ciel? Or was Ciel misunderstanding his signals?

Ciel sighed just as Sebastian opened his bedroom door again. "Tea?" Sebastian smiled as he approached the bed with a tray in his hands. Ciel's eyebrow shot up in surprise.

"I saw the tea bags in a cabinet, and I just couldn't resist," Sebastian said, laughing slightly as he sat back down on the mattress. "Not to mention, I remembered from lunch that you liked sweets."

Ciel silently took in the tray, noting the two cups which emitted the aroma of…Earl Grey? There was also a small plate holding a large slice of Ciel's leftover apple pie from a recent family reunion, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some whipped cream to top it all off.

Ciel realized he was salivating, and he snapped his jaw shut.

Sebastian took a cup from the tray, smiling pleasantly and watching Ciel over the rim of his cup with a steady, expectant gaze.

When he reached for a cup, he noticed that the color was a bit cloudy, meaning that milk had probably been added. _Promising._ He took a sip –

And smirked, delighted.

"Nice work," Ciel finally said, breaking the long silence. "Almost how I prefer it." _He even added nearly the perfect amount of honey._

"I took a guess," Sebastian answered. Ciel was surprised at how Sebastian seemed almost as pleased as he himself felt. "I'm glad I wasn't far off. I like my tea black, so I wasn't sure how much milk and honey to put in." He took a sip of his own tea to punctuate the statement.

Ciel nodded approvingly before drinking a bit more. He then began eating the slice of pie, with all the grace and propriety of a nineteenth century noble. After a few minutes, the fork was set on the tray with a metallic _chink_ and Sebastian set the tray on the nightstand.

"Ciel, can I just say that I…really like you?" Sebastian said suddenly.

Ciel was taken aback, but he wasn't surprised. Still, he hardly managed not to choke on the last morsel of his pie. Eventually he choked out a "W-what?"

"Well, yeah, it's only been a day, but you…you've really taken my interest. It feels like I've known you for way longer than twelve hours," Sebastian explained a bit more. "And I get that you have…issues, so I can go slow if that's what you want. But I really want to go out with you."

Ciel's eyes had grown steadily wider as Sebastian spoke, and he exhaled slowly when the older boy finished. "Um…" Ciel had to stop and cough. "Let's try being just friends for more than a day first," he answered through the thickness in his throat.

Sebastian smirked. "Sure. Whatever you say."

When Ciel looked up at Sebastian, trying to gauge his emotions, he found himself drawn into the taller boy's deep, crimson gaze; he subconsciously leaned forward, despite what he had said just moments ago.

He jolted away when the doorbell rang.

Making a face at the bedspread, Ciel slid out of the bed and made his way out of the room. He then stood at the balcony and watched the scene unfold before him with a peculiar combination of aggravation and amusement.

Auntie Angelina had just arrived back at the manor with a man draped across her arm – a very drunk man. Ciel heard Sebastian chuckle behind him.

Claude and Alois were…well, they were desecrating his couch, to say the least. Alois – who had his pants and boxers around his knees, no less, the slut – was sprawled over the back of the couch, eyes squeezed shut in rapture while Claude knelt on the dark, soft carpet, face pressed into the blonde boy's lap. Ciel felt his face heat up slightly at the lewd display despite his agitation. When his gaze shifted left slightly, he noted that Soma was completely oblivious to everything around him, gaze fixated on Ciel's laptop as he likely worked hard at some sort of game. Ciel barely restrained a sigh.

Angelina seemed surprised at seeing all the people in the living room without warning, but not angry. That was probably only because she could only see the top of Alois's head over the couch from her position in the doorway. Ciel couldn't even _begin _to imagine how Angelina would have reacted had she been able to see Alois being vigorously sucked off by a stranger on her living room couch.

"Angelina, what a-are all these children doing here? I th-thought you said you didn't h-have kids," the man stage-whispered drunkenly, looking genuinely anxious, and Alois burst out laughing, pushing Claude off of him.

"I take it back, Ciel – I think I love this guy!" Alois crowed, looking up at the balcony where he knew Ciel was standing. Swiftly, with hands that had years of practice, Alois buttoned and zipped up his jeans, arranging himself with little more than a nearly-imperceptible wince. He turned around to face Angelina with a huge smile on his face, and Ciel watched as Claude brushed off his knees and stood as well.

Angelina's perceptive eyes tracked Claude's hand as he reached up and wiped what was likely a mixture of pre-cum and saliva from his slightly swollen lips with the back of his hand. Ciel could only hope she didn't put two and two together.

Ciel began making his way back down the stairs in an attempt to draw her attention, knowing Sebastian was only a few steps behind him. "Hello, Angelina. I thought you'd be back later."

"Yes, well…" she trailed off as she led the unsteady man over to the couch, seemingly shaking something off of her mind. "Grell here got a bit tired."

_Grell?_ Ciel thought to himself disdainfully. _What the fuck kind of name is that?_

Ciel watched Grell's fuzzy yellow-green eyes reach Sebastian, who was looming over Ciel's shoulder. The man's eyes widened, and he sat up straighter on the couch cushion, cheeks flushing slightly as he pushed a lock of his long brown hair behind one ear.

_Gay, _Ciel thought immediately.

"I'm gonna go get you some water, okay?" said Angelina softly, stroking a hand over the top of Grell's head.

"Sure," Grell said unsteadily.

When Angelina left, Ciel sat down on the couch next to Grell and stared at him for a while. "You dick," he said eventually.

Grell slid backwards on the couch, trembling slightly and suddenly sobering. "Excuse me?"

"Why are you trying to date my aunt?" Ciel demanded of the older man. "Obviously, you're no straighter than I am."

Alois abruptly giggled somewhere behind Ciel, then moved around the coffee table to stand near the armchair that Soma was occupying.

"U-um…" Grell trailed off quietly, eyes flitting away to Sebastian, who had moved to the couch's arm next to Ciel. "I'm not…that. I'm not a-a homosexual."

Alois broke down into laughter at that, and Grell seemed to tense up even further.

"Right," Ciel drawled, just as Angelina returned with a glass of water and a smile.

"Ciel, would you show your friends out? It's late," Angelina said suddenly.

Ciel didn't even check, instead opting to roll his eyes. "Madame, it's not even eight yet."

"Yes, but there's school tomorrow, Ciel Phantomhive. And don't call me that."

Ciel sighed, then pulled out his phone. He hit speed-dial number 5 and began talking without preamble. "Can you get Elizabeth and bring her downstairs? She's probably in the seventh guest room. Thanks." He then abruptly hung up with another small sigh.

"Okay, fine. I called Tanaka to collect Elizabeth. Time to go, guys," Ciel said, standing up again. He was in no mood to argue with his aunt.

Angelina stood in front of Grell and held out a hand with a sultry smile. "Join me in bed?" she asked. Grell flushed obscenely in response and accepted her hand, red talons and all.

Ciel grimaced when his aunt pulled the shaking man up against her generous bust. "Alright, alright."

When he moved towards the door, everyone followed. He opened the large wooden door, went out onto the porch and waited as the others chatted to fill the evening's silence. A few minutes later, Elizabeth came outside, holding a plastic bag. "Ciel, I'm borrowing some of your jewelry and a couple of shoes!" she squealed, smiling enormously.

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just bring it back within a week."

After a brief kiss to Ciel's cheek, she skipped off of the porch and down the driveway to the street, as she only lived a few houses away from Ciel. Soma grabbed Ciel up in a tight embrace, then backed up and grinned hugely. "Bye, Ciel!" he said. "See you tomorrow!"

All of Ciel's close friends lived in the same neighborhood, which made it easy for them to come over whenever they so desired. Lizzy had always lived just a few houses down, Soma lived across the street, and Alois lived right next door. So he had his friends over multiple times a week if he could.

Soma ran down the driveway and across the street, opening the front door to his house and turning back to wave at the trio once more before he disappeared.

Alois pecked Ciel's nose quickly before backing away into Claude's arms with an odd smile. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, babe, but I kind of have a…problem that needs taking care of," the blonde teenager said, none-too-subtly gesturing towards his crotch.

Ciel refrained from allowing his gaze to follow the direction of Alois's hand. "If you plan to get off, _please _get off of my porch first."

Sebastian and Claude snickered similarly at that, and it kind of creeped Ciel out. The moment passed quite quickly when Claude heaved Alois over his shoulder without so much as a grunt. "Bye, guys," he said, looking at Ciel for just a beat too long to be considered polite before he broke into a sprint and vaulted over the fence into Alois's front yard, Alois's hysterical laughter trailing after him. Ciel followed his movements with his eyes incredulously.

Ciel somewhat uncomfortably turned back to Sebastian once Alois and Claude had vanished into Alois's house.

"Um…so I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Ciel hedged awkwardly, although he kept his eyes unflinchingly on Sebastian's as he spoke.

"Yeah," Sebastian answered, smiling blindingly. "I _am _going to bring lunch for you tomorrow, by the way. Don't think I forgot about that, Ciel."

Ciel rolled his eyes, even as he combated a slight blush. To be honest, _he _had forgotten about that conversation himself. "Whatever. I'd be an idiot to turn down free food anyway."

Ciel blinked, and Sebastian was suddenly standing over him with a very determined facial expression. "Can I have your phone number?"

Ciel was caught slightly off guard. "I-I guess so..?" He ended like a question in his uncertainty, but he rattled it off to the older boy nonetheless.

Slipping his phone into his back pocket, Sebastian leveled an intent look at the much shorter boy. "I want you to seriously think about what I said earlier, Ciel." He leaned forward, and Ciel subconsciously inhaled the scent of Sebastian's breath – warm and enticing cinnamon. He traced the sharp lines of Sebastian's jaw with his eyes and caught himself leaning in.

Jerking away, Ciel's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You mean about the 'let's date after knowing each other for less than a day' bit? Sure, Sebastian." Before he could say anything else, Ciel's deeply-ingrained distrust of new people overcame his uncharacteristic lust; he wrenched the door open and slammed it shut behind him.

Leaning heavily against the door as he listened to the other boy's footsteps fade away in the night air, Ciel sighed deeply, dragging a hand over his face in despair. "I'm so fucked," he whispered to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Truth is, loves, that I got caught up in a new manga (not to mention school) and ended up neglecting my OTP. Trust me, I'm ashamed of myself. But while Kuroko no Basuke is f'ing awesome and I ship Kurogami (Karoko? I dunno.)_ so hard_, nothing can take Kuroshitsuji's place in my heart. So I'll try, for Part 5, not to be a butthole and actually update before February ends. Once again, thanks to all of the people who reviewed, alerted, fav'd, or even just read this. You guys are the ones who make the late nights worth it. :) Have a great week!**


End file.
